Microsoft and São Paulo partner to release crime-monitoring system

Microsoft has partnered with the government of São Paulo to deploy Detecta, an intelligent tool that will improve the Brazilian state’s ability to monitor crime.

Jointly developed between Microsoft and New York City, Detecta leverages big data and business intelligence capabilities to index large volumes of police information and automatically link pieces of data.

São Paulo’s data processing company Prodesp will manage the servers, while Detecta will be managed by the Center of Military Police Operations, Center for Civil Police Communications and Operations and the integrated Center of Public Security Intelligence of the State of São Paulo.

Individual police officers will be able to access the system via a range of devices including computers, notebooks, tablets and smartphones. For example, if a suspect flees in a red car and only part of the license plate is known, the system can locate all vehicles of the same colour with that partial license plate number and display these locations on a map. This will then alert the nearest police patrol car.

“This system will allow a leap in the quality of the police investigation and also prevention and patrols,” said Fernando Grella Vieira, secretary of public security, São Paulo. “Detecta is a pioneering system, and I am certain it will be used in the future on a national scale, integrated with other states.”

São Paulo is the first state to deploy Detecta outside of New York City, where it has been used to improve counter-terrorism efforts and monitor other crimes. The state will adapt Detecta to meet Brazilian standards and train users before implementing the system over a three-month period. After this, the alerts of 10,000 patterns of crimes that have been committed in New York City will be adapted to the needs of the São Paulo police. The first results of the deployment are expected to be realised four months after implementation.

“This project is an opportunity for Microsoft to collaborate with innovative police management models based on the use of technology,” said Mariano de Beer, president of Microsoft Brazil. “The pioneering spirit of the government of the State of São Paulo to adopt a system that was implemented successfully in New York, will be an important ally to combat crime and provide more security for citizens.”

Microsoft and São Paulo government partner to release crime monitoring system

On Wednesday, Mariano de Beer, general manager of Microsoft Brazil, announced that Microsoft and the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, have deployed Detecta, an intelligent system for monitoring crime.

The governor of the Brazilian state of São Paulo, Geraldo Alckmin, has deployed Detecta, an intelligent system of crime monitoring for use in his jurisdiction. This tool, jointly developed between Microsoft and New York City, uses cutting-edge technology to improve police work. In New York City, this technology has been used for counter-terrorism efforts, as well as other types of crimes. This is the first time that the tool will be used outside of New York City. The first results of the deployment are expected to be seen four months after implementation.

"This system will allow a leap in the quality of the police investigation and also prevention and patrols," said Fernando Grella Vieira, Secretary of Public Security. "Detecta is a pioneering system, and I am certain it will be used in the future on a national scale, integrated with other states."

Detecta unites the most modern technologies in the area of computing: Big data (which stores and processes large amounts of information) and business intelligence (which allows data processing for specific pre-determined purposes). The Data Processing Company of São Paulo, Prodesp, will manage the servers.

In the same way that modern search engines operate on websites, this system indexes large amounts of police information and creates automatic associations between the data. For example, if a suspect flees in a red car and only part of the license plate is known, the system can be configured to locate all vehicles with that partial license plate number that share the same color, and display the locations on a map. The nearest police patrol car will also be alerted about the incident.

Officers can access the system through computers, notebooks, tablets and smartphones – everything under the command of Copom (center of military police operations), Cepol (Center for civil police communications and operations) and Ciisp (integrated Center of public security intelligence of the State of São Paulo).

"This project is an opportunity for Microsoft to collaborate with innovative police management models based on the use of technology. The pioneering spirit of the Government of the State of São Paulo to adopt a system that was implemented successfully in New York, will be an important ally to combat crime and provide more security for citizens," said Mariano de Beer, President of Microsoft Brazil.

During the first three months, three actions will be carried out simultaneously: the adaptation of the system to Brazilian standards, with translation and adjustments for units that are used; training for the system’s first users; and implementation of the system. In the fourth month, the alerts of 10,000 patterns of crimes that have been committed in New York City will be adapted to the needs of the São Paulo police.

This is the first time when Detecta is being deployed in a location other than New York City, where it has already been used for counter-terrorism actions and fighting other types of crimes.

Microsoft claims that Detecta won’t help the police right away, but the first results of this new technology should be seen after four months. Officers will be allowed to access the system though a wide array of devices, including computers, tablets, smartphones, and laptops.

Copom (center of military police operations), Cepol (Center for civil police communications and operations) and Ciisp (integrated Center of public security intelligence of the State of São Paulo) will be the two bodies keeping track of everything that Detecta reports.

Detecta is a system developed by Microsoft and the New York City that uses what Microsoft calls “the most modern technologies in the area of computing.” Basically, the technology monitors a specific area and collects data and in case of an incident, it uses the information it gathers with the one stored in the local databases. This way, Detecta can provide officers with details about those involved in a very short time.

Here’s an example offered by Microsoft as part of a press release issued this morning:

“If a suspect flees in a red car and only part of the license plate is known, the system can be configured to locate all vehicles with that partial license plate number that share the same color, and display the locations on a map. The nearest police patrol car will also be alerted about the incident.”

Detecta will thus come in handy to both patrols and investigators, so it tries not only to resolve crimes and incidents, but also to prevent them from the very beginning. At least, that’s what Microsoft promises.

"This project is an opportunity for Microsoft to collaborate with innovative police management models based on the use of technology. The pioneering spirit of the Government of the State of São Paulo to adopt a system that was implemented successfully in New York, will be an important ally to combat crime and provide more security for citizens," said Mariano de Beer, president of Microsoft Brazil.